FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE CALENDAR 2005-2006

Media Studies

FPN 200 FPN 201 FPN 31A/B FPN 323 FPN 32A/B FPN 33A/B FPN 531 FPN 532 FPN 533 FPN 534 FPN 535 FPN 536 FPN 537 FPN 538 FPN 539 FPN 541 FPN 542 FPN 543 FPN 544 FPN 545 FPN 546 FPN 547 FPN 600 FPN 631 FPN 632 NPF 34A/B NPF 35A/B NPF 36A/B NPF 37A/B NPF 548 NPF 549 NPF 550 NPF 551 NPF 552 NPF 553 NPF 554 NPF 555 NPF 557 NPF 558 NPF 559 NPF 560 NPF 561 NPF 562 FPN 200 The Moving Image in Performance I An investigation into the moving human image on film and the creative potential for the performer in preparation for Performance Studies III. Students will have an opportunity to video a dance, movement, improvisational and acting techniques in order to gain insight into the demands the camera makes on the performer. This course will also examine the equipment and systems employed in the screen industry. The student will gain knowledge and insight into the works of notable dance and drama film makers. Lect: 1 hr./Lab: 2 hrs. back to top FPN 201 The Moving Image in Performance II A continuation of The Moving Image in Performance I, this course will survey the literature and film of the twentieth century. Students will view the works of dance and drama film makers including, Antonione, Cocteau, Fellini, Bergman, Welles and others, and will discuss how these great literary film makers might influence and shape their own film making endeavours. Students will have an opportunity to video a dance or drama project exploring these influences. Lect: 1 hr./Lab: 2 hrs. back to top FPN 31A/B Production Design and Scenography This course deals with the visual look of film, video and photographic studio production as a hands-on workshop. Topics covered will include script analysis, storyboarding, creating a colour palette, establishing suitable architectural and period details, selecting locations, designing and decorating sets, co-ordinating the costumes, make-up and hair styles into a pictoral scheme and collaborating with directors and directors of photography to define how a film or video or studio photograph should be conceived and photographed. They will use sketches, illustrations, models and storyboards to plan both macro- and microscopic details. Methods of financial accountability and working within restricted budgets will also be covered. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 323 Sound Design for Visual Media I This course will expand on basic sound theory and technology and their application within various media productions. Students will explore the conceptualization, production and post-production of sound. Through applied projects, students will further explore sound-image relationships. Material covered will include digital sound systems and techniques. The computer will be introduced as a musical instrument, sequencer and recorder. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 32A/B Directing Screen Performance This course is designed to introduce students to the art of acting and directing actors for the screen. Students will have the opportunity to learn about acting by participating in scene studies and acting exercises, both as actors and as screen directors. They will explore improvisational techniques, become familiar with the rehearsal process and obtain insight into the demands the camera makes on actors. Some scenes may be shot on videotape for study and analysis. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 33A/B Screen Writing This workshop course is designed for those students with a special interest in writing for film or television. It will help students to develop and extend skills learned in the course MPF 021 Film Writing. Students will be given project work in writing for a variety of forms of script, with special emphasis on the dramatic form. The course will deal with all stages of screen writing from the development of the outline to the finished shooting script. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 531 Cinematography and Lighting Design I This workshop is an exploration of cinematography, with a special focus on the stylistics of lighting as an essential aspect of cinematography. It centres on using lighting design not merely to establish a mood or time of day, but to support and further the theme or premise of the work. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 532 Advanced Studio Lighting This is a course in studio lighting for photographers. Through practical studio projects within a workshop environment, students will be exposed to more sophisticated ideas about light and lighting in relation to a variety of subjects and techniques. The course is designed to help students expand and deepen their technical, conceptual and aesthetic insight while working with light through creative projects. Prerequisites: (MPM 22B or MPM 22) and (MPS 22B or MPS 22). Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 533 Sound Design for Visual Media II In this post-production workshop, students will gain greater experience in the methods, systems and techniques employed in the creation and organization of events which will follow the fine-cut picture and dialogue phases of production. It deals with studio recording, sound editing, mixing and addresses the merger of film and video in post-production. Electronic sound creation and manipulation devices used in post-production will be examined. Prerequisite: FPN 323. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 534 Graphic Design This is an advanced workshop in two-dimensional design problems with an emphasis on typography and layout and their interaction with and within imagery. Exercises are given in artwork preparation for combination with type, graphic and experimental design elements. The visual language of graphics is the principal focus of the course. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 535 Interaction Design From an applied design perspective, this course will allow advanced students to explore the new possibilities and challenges for visual and virtual media. Through the construction of new media objects, students will explore creative applications of communication models and paradigms, including the design implications of alternative modalities and practices with the changing cultures of presentation-reception. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 536 Media Business Studies This course will cover general business practices including marketing, finance, accounting, statutes and regulations particularly applicable to the successful operation of small media businesses. A case study approach will be used. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 537 Programming for Multimedia Production The objective of this course is to introduce students to programming as a creative tool for digital image and audio processes, and to assist them in developing a basic understanding of object-based constructions and optimal multimedia delivery requirements. The student will learn to design, assemble and write a multimedia application using a programming language. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 538 Authoring for New Media This course is an introduction to authoring for new media. Topics to be explored will include authoring environments, interface design, structuring of applications, scripting languages, output devices, networked-based and stand-alone applications. Students will experience the full process of creating an interactive application. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 539 The Human Figure An investigation of uses of the human figure in traditional fine arts and contemporary graphic media. This workshop course will explore representation of the figure in two- and three-dimensional design contexts as well as in time-based and electronic forms. Participants will have the opportunity to combine studio and laboratory work with theoretical and historical studies. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 541 Digital Animation Concepts This course will introduce students to three-dimensional virtual environments, covering visualization of three-dimensional objects represented in a two-dimensional medium as well as navigation through a three-dimensional space. This course will explore the connections between constructed worlds, as well as the requirements and aesthetics of the medium used for delivery. Modelling and animation topics covered will include perspective, composition, movement, rhythm, timing, and imaging in a three-dimensional space. Particular attention will be paid to the aesthetics and other special characteristics of the delivery medium. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 542 Advanced New Media Topics This course will allow students to explore leading-edge research, developments and projects in new media. New media practitioners and researchers will be encouraged to submit proposals for this workshop. Collaborative and community-based projects will also be actively sought and encouraged. The particular structure of the workshop will be responsive to the nature of the ongoing projects but the students will be active participants in the design, development and prediction of the accepted projects. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 543 Historical Processes Workshops This is a production course dealing with the use, design and construction of composite images using various media. Students will be encouraged to explore the use of captured, hand-rendered, and machine-fabricated images, in both static and temporal combinations. Various methods of image construction ranging from photographic to digital will be used. Selected traditional processes as well as experimental techniques will be discussed. The acceptance and use of these will depend on the sophistication and willingness of individuals to explore and take chances in imagery. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 544 Experimental Film Processes An exploration of alternatives to conventional ways of producing black and white and colour cinematographic images, including non-standard ways of generating cinematographic images and unorthodox means of transforming them. The exact content of the course will vary according to student interests and abilities. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 545 Multimedia Workshop This course is designed to be an independent, self-directed workshop where the student has the opportunity to experiment with a medium other than the primary medium of study. The student can elect to work in any one of the following media: film, video, multi-image and multi-projector slide/tape, 2D or 3D computer animation and interactive media. Students will propose projects in consultation with the instructor. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 546 Curation and Conservation This course will combine lecture and practical experience to explore such topics as the archival preservation, restoration, storage, handling, illumination, protection, and all aspects of exhibition management of film, photography and video artifacts. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 547 Co-operative Internship This course will give students the opportunity to work in professional production situations and settings which will provide them with professional experience with the medium/media of choice. Internship contacts will be the responsibility of the student. All internships are subject to departmental approval in advance. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 600 Film Craft Workshops This course deals with newly emerging and advanced digital film technologies. Guest professionals will be invited to give lectures and demonstrations. Field trips may be organized as well. These events may necessitate the scheduling of class meetings outside normal hours. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 631 Cinematography & Lighting Design II This course is a continuation of Cinematography and Lighting Design I. It will include exercises in studio lighting as well as an exploration of cinematographic and lighting design problems for location shooting, including colour balancing. The specific cinematographic and lighting aspects of TV commercials, documentaries and feature films will be explored. Prerequisite: FPN 531. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top FPN 632 Advanced Studio Lighting II This is a course in specialized studio and location lighting for photographers. Through practical projects students will develop skills related to lighting as practised at a professional level. Students will be required to further their understanding of lighting equipment and techniques as well develop strong problem solving skills that will enable them to work with confidence in both the studio and location environment. The course is designed to allow students to advance their understanding of both the technical and aesthetic issues surrounding lighting as a crucial element in photographic practice. Prerequisite: FPN 532. Lab: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 34A/B Technology, Culture and Communication Guided by the axiom that meaning arises in culture, the course explores patterns of change in the media and technology used to communicate as a probe of cultural change. The course will deal with such issues as the generation of new cultural expression by new media, learning to control new media effects on meaning, new media steering effects on cultural production, and the possibility of media mastery in a technological culture. These issues will be approached by means of a survey of the major works and scholars in this realm and by selected case studies, principally Canadian. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 35A/B History and Theory of Independent Cinema This course is broken into two major components, the first devoted to the study of documentary film, the second to the study of the so-called personal film. The first part of the course explores cinema’s origins in documentary practices and some of the major movements in documentary cinema, including the G.P.O. and W.P.A. documentaries, the founding of Canada’s National Film Board and the wartime documentaries of Great Britain, the United States and Canada, the Free Cinema, cinéma-vérité, and the institutional documentary. The second section will consider a range of practices that take place outside of the framework of support offered by the major cinematic institutions-practices that were shaped by the creative drive of individual filmmakers. Readings will consist largely of manifestos, letters and documents generated by the filmmakers who are the principal subjects of study. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 36A/B Art History/Theories of Art This course enables students to concentrate on twentieth-century art and aesthetics. Artistic movements, currents and theories of the twentieth-century will be examined as well as their effects on the methodology of art history and on cultural institutions such as the museum. The concepts which constitute modernism, postmodernism, and the avant-garde will be addressed both historically and theoretically. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 37A/B Critical and Cultural Theory This course will consider the application of various forms of critical and post-structuralist theory to texts and practices in the visual media. Particular attention will be paid to the three inter-linked themes of representation, power, and difference. Topics covered under these themes will include race, class, gender, sexuality, and place. Other areas such as reception theory, theories of creativity, and the influence of phenomenology and existentialism on contemporary understanding of art may also be examined. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 548 Modern Movements/Issues in Photography The major movements, figures and issues in twentieth-century photography are the focus of this seminar course, which will follow the evolution of the photographic medium over the century’s span. The shift from pictorial to realist representation, the influences of surrealism, abstraction and modernism, the fragmentation of movements and styles in recent decades, and the development of new image-forming systems will all be examined. The course encourages individual exploration and research, and presupposes a basic knowledge of photographic history. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 549 Theories of Photography-Contemp Topics As critical and theoretical developments increasingly affect the uses of, and attitudes towards, contemporary photography, an understanding of photographic theory provides a useful basis for interpreting both photographs and writings. This course will examine topics in photographic interpretation and critical methods, with a particular emphasis on texts and issues from contemporary literature on the visual arts. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 550 New Media Applications The new media are by definition innovational technology and techniques, and innovational combinations, recombinations, and production relationships of existing technology and techniques, available to artists, image-makers, and other creative producers. The course will provide a succinct historical survey of new media. Examples will be cited from the work of major new media makers to demonstrate patterns of novelty, innovation and development. Students will be encouraged to apply to their own new media productions those aspects of innovation in theory, techniques and/or practice which are of greatest interest to them as presented in lectures, seminars and discussion and as revealed by their own project research. Students who wish to concentrate on written or oral presentations may do so. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 551 Interactivity and Networking Students studying the new media, and innovative aspects of film and photography, have available to them as an aspect of their production practice the relatively new communications discipline of interactivity, most typically by means of high-speed computer-controlled cable and wireless systems. Interactive and/or networked media and media systems will be traced from their beginnings up to the current state of ultra-high-speed computing and optical signal processing. By means of selected historical and contemporary case studies the interrelated cultural phenomena of interactivity and networking will be studied as both first-order paradigms of communicative-behavioural change and as applied creative and expressive modalities for new-media makers. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 552 The Political Economy of Culture Images are organized into presentations and exhibitions in books and periodicals, cinemas, concerts, plays and performances, at conferences and conventions, in galleries and museums, lectures and readings, on radio, television, closed-circuit systems and digital networks, in recordings and theatres. That is to say, images are produced and presented by an image industry. The course examines the image industry to understand its nature, functioning and operations, its relationship with image users and consumers, and its interaction with individual image-makers. The work of image-makers, and the image industry as a whole, takes place within a pluralistic cultural context of public- and private-sector entities which plan, organize, direct and control the image industry to produce high culture and mass media for audiences increasingly subject to market-place stratification and packaging. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 553 Modern Movements in the Arts I This course examines relationships among contemporaneous developments in as broad a range of visual art, music, film photography, literature and dance as time allows. The course is mounted as two segments, offered in successive years; students may elect either one or both segments. The first segment explores the theory and practice of various modernist art movements and consists of the study of selected artistic developments that took place in the first half of the twentieth century. The movements examined will include some of the following: cubism, futurism, suprematism, constructivism, surrealism, abstract expressionism and post-painterly abstraction. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 554 Modern Movements in the Arts II This course examines relationships among contemporaneous developments in as broad a range of visual art, music, film, photography, literature and dance as time allows. The course is mounted as two segments, offered in successive years; students may elect either one or both segments. This segment explores the theory and practice of various post-modernist art developments that have taken place in the second half of the twentieth century. Here various post-modernist movements will be examined such as minimalism, intermedia, new image and photo-realist painting, and neo-romanticism. Also considered will be various stylistic and formal developments that have not consolidated under the banner of any particular movement, but have nonetheless furthered the general ideals of post-modernist practices. Prerequisite: NPF 553. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 555 Experimental Media In the past century, groups of artists have repeatedly called for new methods for the creation of artworks, to revitalize arts that had grown dreary, stale, and predictable. This course comprises workshops and seminars and explores the value of such proposals: means to be considered will be the use of aleatory methods, algorithmic procedures, interference structures (Schillinger methods), exquisite corpses (in words and pictures), practices based on the methods of dreams, and methods based on the deliberate rejection of all formations that can be rationally explained. Workshop projects utilizing these methods will be realized in different media. Seminars will explore both historical questions concerning the provenance of such practices and theoretical questions about the extent to which these practices have the potential their proponents claimed for them. A portion of the course will be given over to considering philosophical questions concerning the role of novelty in the arts. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 557 History and Theory of Film and Video This course enables students to concentrate on specific aspects of the history and theory of film and video. Each semester will be devoted to a different topic, e.g., national and alternatively cinemas, film genres and alternative video. The relationship between the aesthetic features of given works and their cultural production will be emphasized. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 558 Topics and Issues in Design This course will consider the influential role of design in film, photography and new media from a historical and theoretical perspective. The specific content of the course may vary according to the context and the particular focus of the curriculum in any given year. Practical workshops may be offered if appropriate to the material being presented. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 559 Adv Topics in Photo History & Theory This course is an advanced level seminar taught by departmental faculty members or adjunct and special visiting lecturers, (e.g., exchange faculty). Each semester will be devoted to special topics that become relevant due to the changing practices and needs of the department and students. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 560 Adv Topics in Film History & Theory This course is an advanced level seminar taught by departmental faculty members or adjunct and special visiting lecturers, (e.g., exchange faculty). Each semester will be devoted to special topics relevant due to the changing practices and needs of the department and students. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 561 Adv Topics in New Media History & Theory This course is an advanced level seminar taught by departmental faculty members or adjunct and special visiting lecturers, (e.g., exchange faculty). Each semester will be devoted to special topics that become relevant due to the changing practices and needs of the department and students. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top NPF 562 Media and Communication This course provides students with the opportunity to study the process and media of communication from a variety of theoretical perspectives provided by, for example: aesthetics, business, education, history, information theory, mass media studies, science, semiotics, the social sciences, technology. Lect: 3 hrs. back to top